Collateral Damage
by Acacia
Summary: Ken and Daisuke head to the digital world alone, and face a moral dillema. Semi-sequal to Only On His Own - mild Kensuke.


Collateral Damage

Author's note: Yup - nother inane songfic semi-related to the lyrics. Hurrah! This one has actual Ken/Daisuke interplay. Ooooh. A small Kenkeru warning unless you missed it. The song is Madonna's "Beautiful Stranger", and it loosely reflects exactly what's happening to poor Daisuke. Hope you like ^_^.   


******************   


It wasn't until they were halfway across the field that he could feel the eyes on his back. They practically bored into his spine - puncturing holes into whatever shred of confidence he might have had at the moment. Craving attention was a far different thing than being used to it, and in this veritable ocean Daisuke was sure to drown. 

Ken shrugged the droplets off like the proverbial duck. 

Some days, mostly ones like this, he felt like he knew Ken. Just a little. As much as he'd even known anyone, though that really wasn't saying much of anything. 'Cause as much fun as the last few weeks had been, there was both alot of weirdness in their lives that just wasn't on the list of Things To Talk About. 

Y'know. Like his family. Ken's family. The usual unfun kinda stuff. They weren't really verbal, in-touch-with-your-feelings kinda guys. Errr.. well.. at least Daisuke wasn't.   


_Haven't we met_   
_You're some kind of beautiful stranger_   
_You could be good for me_   
_I've had the taste for danger_   


"What am I doing here, again?" Daisuke talked as he usually did, with more than words. Not the soulful yet veiled gleam of a pair of strife-plagued eyes, mind you, but several windmill gestures that made his feelings plain as day. He was, as they said, a hand-talker. And that combined with his volume was probably what was attracting attention in the first place. 

Or at least His Exuberance was telling himself that. 

"Feeling intimidated by your surroundings, Motomiya?" the youth walking beside him, one Ken Ichijouji, was smirking a bit. He did that alot. Ar at least Daisuke thought so - he'd only known the guy for a couple months. But still.. like, he wasn't the most sensitive guy on the planet, but there are just things that you're bound to notice, y'know? Like the way Ken's mouth would quirk upwards and you got the feeling that any other person would be shaking on the ground with laughter. Or the way his eyes crinkled up ever so slightly when he was concentrating. Or how how he'd light up like a kid in a candy store when they really kicked some ass in the digital world, and nobody else would notice 'cause they just saw him looking all cool and detached. 

Just stupid stuff. Nothing most people wouldn't notice about someone who might be a friend, he assumed. 

"Like hell," he wasn't about to let Ichijouji get the upper hand in any case. The blue-haired boy did that far too often already. "I was just thinking that I might somehow turn into a nerd if I spent too much time here, is all. Y'know, like Night of the Living Dead but with more geeklyness and less zombies." 

He was referring, of course, to their present surroundings - the courtyard of the former Digimon Emperor's very, _very _exclusive private school. There were grey-clothed brains just like him scattered everywhere under the big trees and stuff they had planted. And they were the ones who were staring and stuff- prolly 'cause they weren't used to seeing The Famous Ken Ichijouji actually talking to anyone, let alone someone who couldn't calculate pi to nine digits off the top of their heads. 

Some of them were pointing, and that was kinda rude. But whatever. 

"Well we _could _always just go to the digital world through your school, you know. Or my computer, the computers at the library, one of the public access terminals..." Ken trailed off, not bothering to hide his annoyance all the people looking at them. Yeesh - if he was gonna get all embarrassed he shoulda said something. Wasn't Daisuke's fault. And it wasn't like they were _dating_ or anything. Sometimes, Ken_ so_ made no sense. 

"Okay, okay! Geeeze - it was just an idea. It's not _my_ fault that the other digidestined want you dead and this is the closest other place," the shorter boy had to quicken his pace a bit to keep up to the long-legged Ichijouji. "Yeeesh... what if all the public access terminals were closed, an' the library had some kind of freak flooding, an'.." 

"You're insane," Ken rolled his eyes. 

"Chibimon doesn't think so, do you Chibimon?" Daisuke smiled down at the little blue blob of energy that was currently crushing his companion's own partner within an overstuffed paper bag. Daisuke just hoped that they hadn't eaten _too_ much of the fast food to fit in there. 

"Course I don't!" 

"Oh, _great_ second opinion," Ken drifted into a hallway and then unlocked the academy's computer lab. He just happened to have a key to the sterile room, though Daisuke wasn't really sure he wanted to know exactly how Ichijouji had gotten it. 

"Yah - I know." 

He chose to deliberately take that at face value. Daisuke had found rather quickly after they sorta started talking and hanging out and stuff that those usually ended with him losing bigtime. And they had stuff to do that didn't involve him trying to get the last laugh. 

'Sides, he'd discovered a couple weeks ago how funny Ken was when he couldn't get the last laugh. Guy almost looked like he was about to pop a vein.   


_If I'm smart then I'll run away_   
_But I'm not so I guess I'll stay_   
_Heaven forbid_   
_I'll take my chance on a beautiful stranger_   


"You don't have to do this, you know," Ken had turned on a terminal while Motomiya tried - and failed - to wrestle away the last pack of fries from Leafmon. 

Sometimes, in-training digimon were just _scarily _strong for cute little bouncing fluffball things. That was half the reason that Daisuke missed the wistfulness in Ken's comment, which managed to echo a bit within the brick walls of the lab. The other half being that the destined of courage had all the capacity to read people of a dead log. 

"Sure I do! That pipe over by that big mountain place is_ totally_ busted, " Daisuke replied a little bit too quickly, giving up on the cholesterol saturated snack food and pulling out his D3. His violet-eyed sorta maybe friend had thought they should get something more healthy anyways before capitulating to Daisuke's... errr... 'persuasion' (which was totally and completely _not_ whining, no matter what Ken said), and didn't seem to care about it getting all eaten. 

"Yeah," Ken nodded to that, looking an alarming amount of relieved. Meaning that the redhead picked up on it not a whit, and he of the azure locks felt like he had committed an unspeakable crime. Neither was about to admit to the other that they were glad to be going together instead of having yet another painfully uncomfortable group mission with the other digidestined. Them usually just wandering off alone anyways just kinda happened 'cause of circumstances. Nor would they acknowledge that they even remotely enjoyed each other's company at all. Or even that the genius was asking nothing less than for Daisuke to create a rift between himself and those he was nominally supposed to be leading by suggesting they wander off to explore the digital world by themselves. Cut a bit away, as it were, from an eight-month-old morass of relationships for just one two month-old fledgling. 

Because, y'know, he wasn't. And they didn't. And people like them didn't _do_ the relying on other people thing. It was just to save the others time, of course. 

Kari, he knew, would be horrified. 

But then, maybe that was why he was wearing of one his trademark Big Goofy Grins. 

"Digiport.. open!" 

The tingle.. the rush.. and they were off with that indescribable feeling that's somewhere between flying and losing one's body.   


_I looked into your eyes_   
_And my world came tumbling down_   
_You're the devil in disguise_   
_That's why I'm singing this song_   


They'd expected to do a bit of cleanup. Daisuke would goad Ken in to playing soccer with some primaries - which would offend His Brilliance's dignity once he remembered he had an image to maintain - and then they'd mooch some food off of a helpful champion with cooking skills. Errr... well.. Daisuke would, at least. They sorta recognized Ken, and he never really suggested anything to do anyways ... But he wasn't actively trying to _avoid_ the redhead, so Daisuke figured that at least was a good sign. 

What they hadn't expected was a mega-level tower-spawn wandering around trying to break bridges and scare lovable cuddly flower-mons and stuff. Not that it wasn't the usual or anything - Pando.. no, PandoraDemon or something. Big, mean, flying, armored, black, with dangerous ranged attacks and the like. Nothing out of the ordinary - just evil with a capital E. 

Problem was that it wasn't alone. It was holding a screaming Arulamon which had obviously been trying to shield the primary plant-type mons from the onslaught. Their home must not be far from here... 

Fingering his D3, Daisuke waited for a field report from the master. From playing on the same soccer team he knew that he was probably the better guy to call for offense, but nobody drew a defensive line like Ken Ichijouji. 

"Hmm," Ken shielded his eyes from he sun's glare, getting that Serious Concentrating Ken look he'd always had when plotting Daisuke's demise or the reconstruction of a village. "It has excellent traction on her with those suckers. There's no way we'll be knocking her off. Considering the trajectory of attack, and the fact that the digimon in question is an imitation mega-level, I think we'll have to allow some collateral damage if..." 

He spoke quickly, but in a calm and rather sparing manner. Nothing at all like his fiery companion. 

"Whoa Ken - slow down," Motomiya waved a couple of gloved hands about, impatient to get to the fray. "Speak normal - 'kay?" 

"If we want to take it out," Ken sighed, ".....we'll have to kill the digimon it's holding." 

Daisuke's eyes widened, knowing in the back of his tactics-trained mind that Ken was right. Sometimes a player had to take a hit to slow down the star attraction... 

But this wasn't the same at all. 

"So we're thinking up something else, right?" 

Ichijouji's indigo irises hit his own, voice a whisper "... are we?" 

"But there' another way, right?" 

"Now that I can tell." 

When Ken Ichijouji of all people ran out of options, things were really really far from good.   


_To know you is to love you_   
_You're everywhere I go_   
_And everybody knows_   


Motomiya shook his head. "It's not the same as an evil digimon, Ken. We can't just... " 

"Don't you think I know that!?!" Ken, picking up a worried-looking Wormmon, snapped back. 

"Daisuke is right, Ken.. There has to be another way.." a hesitant warble emerged from the digimon's plum carapace. " I know you don't want to..." 

"Of course I don't want to," the genius sighed once more, suddenly taking a huge interest in his feet. Like a kicked puppy or a hungry Chibimon, something you were just felt inexplicably drawn to _hug_. In an evil, arrogant kind of way. 

Not that the redhead would think about that anyways. Of course. 

"Define evil for me, Daisuke. Am I evil?" Ichijouji looked up once more, speaking in a low, soft tone. 

What.. he even had to ask? Yeesh - the guy really had to let go already. Yeah, he'd done some bad stuff, but.. 

"Of course not!" 

"Am I not, now?" the blue-haired boy cast his gaze at the circling PandoraDemon, and then to four vague figures that had appeared a hundred meters or so away from them. "Look at them. They think we're both evil. Though I suppose you're just evil by association." 

The other digidestined. Just _great_. That was _so_ the last thing they needed.... 

But they didn't appear to have seen them through the thick foliage of the forest. No.. they'd just sent out their own troops, who were predictable being batted away. No one could really attack with Arulamon in the way... 

And they hadn't bothered to find their 'leader' before riding to the rescue, now had they? 

"Who cares what they think!" the hotheaded youth suddenly exclaimed, now finding himself the one with a fascination with the ground. 

And slowly, very slowly, he found himself doing something that he thought he never would. "Look - we've gotta stop that thing." 

It wasn't his usually energetic chirp. More of a resigned determination, really. And when he too found the strength to look back Daisuke was surprised to find that Ken had retreated a bit. 

Ichijouji stepped back with a short, curt nod. As if he were making some sort of noble sacrifice or something, though Daisuke wasn't really sure what was up with that, "... you don't have to be here if you don't want to be. I told you that before." 

"Same goes for you," once more, courage felt compelled to ignore the spirit of the message in favor of the meaning. His fist clenched around the digivice as if a lifeline, while misspent power arced through the skies and held the large demon in place. 

"I can manage on my own," Ken stubbornly continued, oblivious and with a hint of hostile bitterness creeping into his tone. 

"You don't _have to_. You won't.. you won't be able to kill it on your own, right?" Daisuke started to charge his device, "And if I let you do this... then it's on my hands too anyways, isn't it? Veemon.. you don't mind, do you?" 

A chocolate gaze flickered over to the tiny blue dragon. 

"I'm with you, Daisuke. I'm always with you. We.. we have to save that village." 

Veemon looked sad too. 

But there were hundreds of creatures in that village, and there was nothing else to be done. If there was.. well, the brilliant Ken Ichijouji would have thought of it. 

Right.   


_To love you is to be part of you_   
_I've paid for you with tears_   
_And swallowed all my pride_   


Motomiya couldn't help but hesitate a bit. It was his nature not to want to give up so easily, if that was what this was. 

For once - just this once - he stopped to watch the leaves fall. 

"Ken...," he mumbled - well, as much as the naturally loud Daisuke _ever_ mumbled. "Do_ you_ think you're evil?" 

"I think... I used to think I was evil," amethyst eyes turned a deeper shade of indigo. "But now.. I think that I don't believe in evil. And I don't believe in good, either. Nobody ever wants to be evil, or achieves good by being themselves. I think .. that people are just people, and some of them deserve to be stopped." 

He was referring, of course, to the faux digimon up there. All razorblades and destructive glee. Gazing up not in supplication or enjoyment or even numbness, but with a certain breed of dignified resignation. 

Yeesh - hanging out with Ken was like reading a thesaurus. 

"Yeah," Daisuke moved to activate the digivice. It would only take one more command, and there'd be no talking back of the chill that was making it's way up his spine..." So... what're we gonna do?" 

"It's like I said - if we kill it, the village is out of danger, but we're going to have to go through that little guy. I thought we'd already decided that," Ken looked annoyed - kinda like he usually looked. The other soccer player wasn't sure of that was supposed to be reassuring or offputting. 

"... yes. She'll.... it'll be reborn. There's no other choice," Daisuke was uncharacteristically slwoly summoning a familiar aquamarine light. Maybe he wasn't giving up, though. Maybe he was just.. just doing what needed to be done. Maybe not doing this would be giving up, just so he could feel good about themselves. Weren't the poor digimon in that village more important than that? 

"I.... I'm sorry Veemon. Digi-Armor... energize!" 

It didn't take long for a dejected-looking Veemon and Wormmon to become the somewhat less dejected-looking Flamedramon and Stingmon. Less was spent on instructing them - their compatriots had already fallen to earth and their partners, and they more than knew the situation. 

The battle was textbook. Once the Arulamon had been vaporized by a dual strike of rose and flame-red power they went about their business in the usual way. An attack here, a dodge there... 

And their partners, who happened to have sunk to the rough carpeting of the forest floor, looked on like usual too. 

Geeze - Ken probably looked worse than he did, though. Guy looked like he was reliving a bad dream or something.. which he probably kinda was. Daisuke, on the other hand, was good at not looking upset for a guy that could usually be read like a cheap paperback. But then, when he decided on something he usually wasn't' the sort for second thoughts. 

"Your Crest is still working," Daisuke offered, trying desperately to give his voice that usual bounce. 

".. Yeah," Ichijouji only breathed. 

".. It wouldn't work if you weren't a kind person," the redhead tried again. That was the kind thing you're supposed to do for a friend, right? 

Ken just laughed a bit. Not the Digimon Emperor's full-throated cackle, but a weary sort of chuckle. 

"You digidestined taught me that this isn't a fantasy world, Daisuke," he was fishing around in his black leather attache case for something. he looked confident. Calm. In control. Good old reliable Ken Ichijouji. " And in real worlds.. sometimes the good thing isn't the right thing. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind."   


_If I'm smart then I'll run away_   
_But I'm not so I guess I'll stay_   
_Haven't you heard_   
_I fell in love with a beautiful stranger_   


"Do you think I'm evil _now_, then?" the former kaizer shook his head ruefully, more sarcastic than weak. Ken Ichijouji didn't _do_ weak - not ever. "Just.. go back to them. You obviously don't understand." 

He was referring, of course, to the other destined. They were looking after their wounded right now. But the PandoraDemon would be screaming it's death-knell soon enough, and then the children of virtue would be be looking for blood. Or an explanation. And Daisuke knew that he could put all the blame on Ken for this. Say it was his idea, that he'd not known what else to do, that the evil Digimon Emperor had come back to be once more the scourge of their destines. Motomiya could do that - he knew every trick in the book when it came to trying to fit in, and even that most of them didn't work. And he also understood through some miracle of increased perception also that this was what Ken fully expected him to do. Mostly because Daisuke knew for a fact that he still carried that whip around in his briefcase, along with some food for Wormmon and a textbook. 

What? Okay, so he was a liiitle snoopy... 

But Ken, he knew, was probably the only person in the world who'd do that for a loser like Daisuke. 

And the redhead wasn't known for calm, rational descision-making anyways. What's wrong with going with a gut feeling? 

"Ken!" the digidestined of friendship half-whined. "Bloody... y'know, for the amount of times that people tell me_ I_ mouth off, you're the one with a problem with jumping to conclusions." 

"Hunh?" Ken stopped searching for his prop and looked up - mostly because Daisuke had taken the opportunity to shove him away from the bag. 

PandoraDemon, in the mean time, was almost finished. Neither noticed. 

"You'd probably know the person, being smart and all - some old guy. Anyway, he said something about the ends and the mean?" like Daisuke knew. It was sooo hard to make a point with Ken, him knowing all those famous people and smart-people stuff and stuff... 

"The ends justify the means?" Ichijouji raised an eyebrow, for the thousandth time looking down on Daisuke's intellectual abilities. But that was just kinda the way he was. 

"Yeah. That's it." 

"Machiavelli," Ken grinned that smarmy Ken sort of grin. "... you've been corrupted, digidestined." 

"Dude - I hate to break it to ya, but not everything that ever happened in the whole entire world was because of you." 

Ichijouji was just quiet then, and Daisuke got the feeling that it was the sorta thing he did when he was losing an argument. Then it came to him that the demon was dead and their digimon had just fallen to earth about five feet away - Ken actually having the sense to shut up and go get his. 

Oh god.. Veemon! 

It seemed like less than a second passed to get there - Ken and Daisuke were both pretty good runners what with the soccer and stuff. And they gave their digimon big hugs while the poor little guys just sort of were tired and oblivious to the world and all that. 'Cause battles take alot out of digimon. 

"You were great Veemon," Motomiya managed to be happy, again. Bad moods didn't last long for him, and he didn't need Veemon worrying now. you really saved the day." 

".. thanksh," the blue monster smiled up at him. His whole life, Veemon had been the only one to ever do that. 

"Macintosh?" a voice interrupted behind him. 

"Sure," a large red apple was tossed -perfectly, 'cause it _was _Ken - into his hands. And Daisuke was finally able to fill his stomach a bit with the part he didn't' feed to the weakened Veemon. 

"I told you it paid to buy something not scraped out of the bottom of a deep-fryer," the redhead could almost feel the eyes rolling behind his back, too. He got the feeling that Ken did that alot - but then he wasn't sure if that was true or not, 'cause he wasn't too experienced with he friend thing. 

It went unspoken that they'd need their energy. The others were coming.   


_I looked into your face_   
_My heart was dancing all over the place_   
_I'd like to change my point of view_   
_If I could just forget about you_   


"I can't believe you'd do that!" Miyako was the first to get there -shrill voice cutting through the silence. And the others were just behind her - though looking more seething mad than spazzy mad. 

Hoooo boy. 

"He's probably turned him evil," she informed the assembled destined, not bothering to look into the eyes of the accused. ":There'll be a black ring over there or something." 

How could she say that! After what Ken had done for them... 

"Would you guys lay off!" Daisuke yowled. " We did what we had to do! I didn't see you with a better plan." 

Miyako was at least talking, though. The rest were just silent and glaring. Even Hikari... but he wanted her to... 

Oh no. He was _so_ not going there. 'Sides, he should pay attention to Miyako. Ken was looking kind of... growly. Was that a word? Whatever. 

Inoue was on the offensive. And Hawkmon wasn't looking too cuddly and friendly himself. 

"Oh yeah? Well maybe you and your _evil_ _boyfriend_ over there should just leave all of this to us!" 

What the...!?! 

"Ken is NOT my boyfriend," Daisuke , for lack of a better term, freaked out. Because that was such a lie and god Miyako was asking for it and where the hell did she get off saying stuff like that when they'd just done something really really hard and... 

"Obviously these people are simpleminded. Much like you. " 

Ice interjected while fire silently ran it's course. 

But.. geeze - this wasn't right. Yeah, the other destined weren't exactly his best buddies.. but they were a team, right? And they knew Daisuke. Well, like, not really, but they knew he was a good guy, right? Didn't they trust him by now? Why couldn't they just see that Ken probably felt really bad about this... that they both did? 

Why didn't they understand that Ken was being a jerk just to give the child of friendship the chance to blame it on him? 

Why coudlnt' things just work out like they were supposed to with all of them together... it had worked for the chosen before them! 

"But we can all work on this together, if you guys would just understand..." 

And why, oh why, could Daisuke Motomiya never get his way....? 

"Understand what? Are you with that murderer or with us?" it was Kari this time, and boy did she look cold. Not Ken sorta cold either - 'cause with Ken you always kinda knew that it was sorta his way. Whereas with a girl like Kari, you just knew that she could understand if she wanted to. 'Cause she was the best at being giving and serene and stuff of _any_ of them. 

But she didn't want to understand. Her arms were crossed, and she flittered about Takeru's side. 

And wishes never came true for Motomiya anyways, 'cause he didn't really deserve that. 

So... even if things couldn't be perfect, he was gonna have to place his bets on one side or another. Guess he just never thought it would be not with them. The child of courage was a gut feeling kinda guy - act on impulse, sweat the consequences later. And his instincts just wouldn't let him leave Ken. Something about those narrow amethyst eyes kept calling him back from what he'd wished for with all his heart... 

"... Ken's right about you." 

He didn't bother to listen to them calling - his attention span was short anyways, and he kinda had to half-carry Veemon as they walked away. It slipped his mtv-trained mind very easily that his genius friend looked kind of.. smirky. Or maybe that was relieved. If Daisuke was a dime-store thriller, then Ken was War and Peace. 

----------------------- 

_I looked into your eyes_   
_And my world came tumbling down_   
_You're the devil in disguise_   
_That's why I'm singing this song to you_

All Was Right With The World. 

Chibimon knew this for the reason that he knew most things - because he was with Daisuke, and therefore everything was automatically rose-colored. It helped to have red eyes sometimes, y'know. 

Well - yeah. It'd been a weird day. But if Chibimon knew anything, it was that his Daisuke never did anything without a good reason. "cause he might not be the smartest, or the nicest, or the most skilled of all the digidestined - but he always did the right thing, so he was bestest by far. 

It had been kinda scary with that poor Arulamon. But they'd saved all the other little digimon! So that was good, right? And their digivice still worked, soo.. umm there! Daisuke was his best friend. He just had to be right. And Chibimon was gonna be strong for Daisuke no matter what! 

Curled up on his partners shoulder, the tiny digimon was fading in and out of sleep. Someone had called. Tai, was it? He didn't know. His eyelids kept drooping and he was all sleeeeepy and Daisuke's arms were really warm... 

".. and I can't believe you'd do that! What were you thinking!?! Miyako tells me..." 

"Miyako should keep her mouth shut." 

Hunh? Oh- they just must be being silly is all. 

"Killing a digimon with the Digimon Emperor, Daisuke? There's no excuse for that. I can't believe you'd take up with that.. that..." 

'Cause Daisuke just had to be right. 

"Look - you ever had a best friend? Not Agumon.. but, like, a _person_?" 

".. yeah." 

"Well I never did. And now I do. And.. and.. maybe the reason that all these evil things keep coming back is because you never have the guts to kill them off the first time around!" 

Digimon knew these things. An' Veemon woulda whapped Daisuke upside the head, if that was what his partner had needed. But he hadn't. So that was okay. 

"That's really what you think? Ken has more of a grip on you than I thought." 

"Kendoes not have remote control of my _brain_, y'know. I was willing to take out Golemmon for the greater good too. Before we found out he was a control spire an' stuff. Look.. it hurt, an' it wasn't pleasant, but we did we did what we had to do despite that!" 

He hoped Leafmon was okay. The big black thing was really mean. 

"May I have my goggles back?" 

Awwww.. That was kinda not very nice. But Daisuke looked better without them. 

Auuugh! He was hungry now. Of all the luck.. 

"Tell the others that we'll be there on friday to look over that field by the betamon village." 

"...." 

"Look, I'm pretty sure they're gonna need us as backup. We've gotta learn to work toegether if we're gonna find that Golden Radiance. " 

Mmm.. golden... just like the caramel in a twix bar...   


_I've paid for you with tears_   
_And swallowed all my pride_   


But Daisuke.. he was kinda happy and kinda sad. Which mean that Chibimon had to stay to protect him. 

"Alright. ... I thought I knew you better, Daisuke. We all did. But you're acting like..." 

"I'm acting like myself. Goodbye, Taichi." 

'Cause he shoudn't be all sad like he looked right now. His best friend shouldn't _ever_ be sad. Chibimon was so proud of him! 

Finally, for once, he was living up to his crests - even if he didn't know it. 

Finally he was the child of courage in friendship.   



End file.
